Sitting at the base of the Acropolis in Athens and just two blocks from the Acropolis Metro station is the Acropolis Museum. The Acropolis Museum, one of the ten most important museums in the world, was built to house every artifact found on the rock and on the surrounding slopes. Discoveries date from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. It was also built over the ruins of Roman and early Byzantine Athens with its foundation carefully designed and built in a way that protects and provides access to the archaeological sight.
This ultra modern museum is dedicated to restoring and protecting the amazing buildings associated with ancient Athen’s Acropolis. Seriously damaged over centuries by looters, war and vandalism the recovery, preservation and restoration of the sites major buildings is a massive undertaking. Working from drawings, historic photographs and actual artifacts from the British Museum, the restoration is intended to specifically restore the Parthenon to its original condition. That will include the statue of Athena, the East and West building pediments, the metopes of the peristyle, and the continuous frieze of the cella and the temples exterior with its abundance of sculptures.
The collections of the museum are exhibited on three levels with a fourth middle level that houses the museum shop, the café and offices. On the first level of the museum there are artifacts from the slopes of the Acropolis with its long and rectangular hall whose floor is sloping to resemble the ascension to the Acropolis. At the top the visitor finds a large hall which houses additional findings that include artifacts and sculptures from the other Acropolis buildings such as the Erechtheum, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaea and artifacts from Roman and early Christian Athens. The top floor features a movie on the Parthenon along with exhibits on the statuary restorations and an amazing gallery with its glass wall looking directly at the Acropolis.
The museum is normally open from 8 to 4 on weekdays and 8 to 8 Saturday and Sunday. General admission varies by season: 10€ from April through October and 5€ from November to April.
intend2travel.info 